A bottom-up approach to creating more open, adaptive, innovative self-organising groups. This Operating System is an alternative to, and compliment for, other progressive organisational practices like Holocracy, Lean, and Agile. Its focus is on helping individuals learn practices and skills that promote emergent solutions and better collaborative decision making.
1. 1
PD OS Workbook v3.5.2
Using a living systems view to help you create more open, adaptive, innovative self-organising groups.
www.patterndynamics.net
The PatternDynamics Operating System Workbook
TM
Flocks not Clocks
Learning the Principles of Self-Organisation
2. 2
Contents
2. AssessingYour Capability
The Living Systems Context
DeterminingYour Purpose
EvaluatingYour Current State
Your Focus
Aspects of the Operating System
Principles, Patterns, and Practices
3. The Operating System
4. Collaborative Systems Enquiry
Operating System on a Page
Run the OS
OS Performance Chart
Next Steps
The Living SystemsView
Why Self-Organisation?
7 Principles of Self-Organisation
1. Getting Started
3. 3
Getting Started1.
Living systems work like flocks of birds. They are self-organising: the coordination of the whole emerges,
bottom-up, from the combined interactions of all members of the group. In a living systems model,
individuals make autonomous decisions based on sharing a set of organising principles. In the case of a
flock of birds, they are principles like know the goal, turn when your neighbour turns, maintain a certain
distance to the birds nearby, and follow the bird in front of you.The parts that make up all living systems,
from organisms to whole ecosystems, follow shared principles and self-organise in this way.
In contrast to the living systems model, many organisations are based on a mechanistic view. In mechanistic
models, decision making comes from the top down. Individuals are expected to carry out decisions in a
structured fashion, with little autonomy, like the cogs or springs in a clock. Research indicates that as social
and organisational challenges become more complex, mechanistic operating models do not allow sufficient
collective input for effective decision making and problem solving. 1
Our goal in this workbook is to provide you with a model that helps you learn principles, practices, and
skills for demonstrating the benefits of increased self-organisation based on a living system view. By
demonstrating these benefits you can attract others to this form of organisational practice and help lead
the change to more generative cultures.
The Living SystemsView
1.) For example, see: Jaques, E. (1976).A general theory of bureaucracy. London: Heinemann Educational.; Habermas, J.
(1975). Legitimation crisis (T. McCarthy,Trans.). Boston: Beacon Press. Kegan, R. (1994). In over our heads:The mental
demands of modern life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bell, D. (1973).The coming of post-industrial society.
NewYork: Basic Books
4. 4
Why Self-Organisation?
Our theory of change is based on the view that self-organisation is the great under-recognised natural foundation to all
forms of human endeavour. Communities, businesses, institutions, and societies do not actually function like machines, most
of the real work of ‘organisation’ in groups is done day-to-day, moment-by-moment by living beings that understand how
to work together towards their goals as living systems.
In fact, reconnecting with and strengthening the self-organising capacity of our groups is the key to solving the challenges
we are currently facing. It’s living systems, not machines or technologies, that are the models we turn to for understanding
how to manage complexity itself. Only living systems model the openness, adaptability, innovation, and distributed problem
solving required for meeting the complexity inherent in our rapidly emerging, highly interconnected and interdependent
planetary-scale society.
Our approach to self-organisation is that it is best thought of as a set of skills, based on the organising principles of
living systems, that individuals can learn and practice to create healthier, more highly-functioning groups.
Employing these skills and demonstrating the benefits of strengthening self-organisation creates influence. Although this
form of influence is often less tangible, longer term, more holistic–and therefore often less visible–it is tapping into the
power of self-organisation, not top down structural control, that is ultimately the most powerful force for change.
“From a Living Systems Perspective there has never been anything more powerful
in human affairs than people who are in touch with the self-organising Source of a
living universe. “
– Tim Winton, Founder of PatternDynamics
5. 5
7 Principles of Self-Organisation
You can get started very simply. Remember how birds use a set of principles to decide what to do next?
You can do the same thing. Just use the 7 Principles of Self-Organisation below to reflect on your decision
making as challenges arise. In the following sections of this Workbook, you will have the opportunity to
learn about the principles in more depth and to build your skills by applying them as more detailed
practices. For now, just imagine that, like a flock of birds, making adjustments based on these living systems
principles will contribute to emergent solutions in your own life.
Do you sense any changes to your deeper purpose? If so, what
adjustments could be made in relation to the principles above?
Do your important rhythms and routines feel right? Is there
anything that could be more regular, or less?
Are key organisational structures represented as simple graphics?
How could you create or update organisational diagrams?
How could you learn more by exchanging perspectives? What
priorities may need to be adjusted?
What are some ways you could connect previously unrelated ideas?
What novel solutions look like the best ones to test? Why?
Are any current goals or milestones outdated? What agreements
need to be updated to make them more relevant?
7) Sense Changes InYour Purpose:
2) Locate Important Perspectives:
3) Outline Organisational Structures:
4) Coordinate Diverse Perspectives:
5) Design Creative Solutions:
6) Reflect on Governance:
1) Feel IntoYour Rhythms:
Have you found all the important sources of information? Who do
you need to speak with to locate relevant points of view?
6. 6
You’d like to gain skills to help influence your organisation or community toward a more open,
adaptive, innovative self-organising operating model.You understand that the world is becoming
more complex, and that this is one of the most effective ways to meet the complexity challenge.
Before we move on to the the PatternDynamicsTM Operating System (PD OS) itself, we’ll start
with some reflection on the nature of living systems.The questions in the section that follows will
help you: 1) understand the living systems context, 2) evaluate your existing capability, and 3)
determine your purpose.
The Living Systems Context
On the next page, we’ll go through some reflective questions. As well as helping you understand
more about a group or organisation you work with, this assessment will also help you get a sense of
some of the important general characteristics of a living systems view. The characteristics we will
focus on are: adaptability, innovation, openness, self-organising capacity, and generativity.
Don’t worry if some of the terms or questions are unfamiliar to you. At PatternDynamics, we have
developed a range of resources to help people improve their understanding of how living systems
work. How well you understand them at this point will give you a sense of the strength of your
existing level of ‘systems thinking’ ability.
AssessYour Capability2.
7. Adaptability: How well does your organisation or community mimic a living system’s
capability for solving problems at the level best suited to meet a particular challenge? Contrast
this with the habit of (and/or requirement for) deferring decisions to those higher up the
chain of command.
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Innovation: Describe the degree to which your organisation or community is willing to
experiment with creative solutions. Contrast this with the degree to which existing
processes and structures are relied on to solve emergent challenges.
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8. Now choose a group or team that you work with directly. Assess the group’s general
performance in relation to the living systems traits below.Then, if you are able, sit down with a
colleague and discuss their views on these topics.
• Openness: How open and inclusive is your group to dissenting, marginal, or outside voices?
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• Self-organisation: How well does this team spontaneously coordinate its activities?
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• Generativity: How often do people create self-reinforcing cycles that build healthier, more
functional environments that in turn support the perpetuation of this cycle?
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How closely did your colleague’s thoughts match your own? What did you learn about your
group’s, and your own, living systems capacity?
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9. 9
Why do you want to help your team, organisation, or community shift to a more self-
organising operating model? What is your ultimate purpose in facilitating groups that
coordinate themselves using living systems principles?
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Reflect for a moment on the impact you could have by adopting more elements of a living
systems operating system. What things could you do regularly, even at a small scale, to
demonstrate the benefits of more open, adaptive, and innovative processes? What
opportunities become available when you help to manage challenges by communicating
skilfully about the principles of a more self-organising approach?
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DeterminingYour Purpose
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Now we’re going to have a look at how you think you currently perform in your group or organisation.
Grade below, as best you can, quickly and intuitively, how you currently behave in relation to the 7
Principles. Be honest. Higher scores indicate better self-organisation skills. You can also use this as a
‘360’ type assessment by asking your colleagues to assess your performances.
EvaluatingYour Current State
Principle Description/Inquiry Score (1–10)
How sensitive are you to emerging challenges and to how they may
require shifts in your original purpose or source inspiration?Sense Purpose (Source):
Locate Perspectives:
Outline Structures:
Coordinate Perspectives:
Design Solutions:
Reflect on Governance:
How thoroughly do you identify relevant stakeholders and inquire of
them their point of view?
How clearly do you represent graphically the structure of roles,
accountabilities, and authorities?
How skilfully do you inquire in order to identify the principles that
help prioritise diverse perspectives?
How effective are you at making and explaining the creative
connections that lead to better solutions?
How committed are you to setting clear goals and milestones,
recording clear agreements, and using these to monitor progress?
Total
Feel Rhythms:
How in touch are you with the important rhythms in your
organisation and when they might need to be adjusted?
11. 11
Given your results, which of the 7 Principles would you like to focus on first to improve your
self-organisation skills? Choose more than one if you like.You should still work through the
exercises for each of the 7 Principles in the next section, but deciding what to prioritise will
help you focus your time initially on what’s most relevant for you.
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Your Focus
13. 13
In order to start using the PatternDynamicsTM Operating System (PD OS) itself, you will need to learn more about the 7
Principles by connecting them to their source, the PatternDynamics™ SystemsThinking Framework.
The framework is a set of diagrams or symbols called ‘Patterns’. Each Pattern represents a comprehensive description of
a living systems principle. It’s these principles, based on observations of natural systems and insights from the systems
sciences, that are the origin of the 7 Principles of Self-Organisation.The Patterns will help you learn more about each of
the Principles, how to communicate about them, when to apply them, and how.
In the Operating System graphic on the previous page, you can see that there is one Pattern diagram associated with
each Principle. In the pages that follow, click on a Pattern (link) to view its full description. If you are using a printed copy
of this Workbook, you can go to www.patterndynamics.net/patterns to look them up.
To begin using the PD OS you will need to develop the 7 Principles into a set of Practices–specific actions you can take
to build your skills when faced with decision making and problem solving challenges.
These Practices form different aspects of the PD OS. Start by practicing them one at a time. Using each one
independently will give you a result.
As your skills develop, you can start to combine them. Later in this Workbook we will help you integrate them into a
comprehensive process based on the Operating System, called Collaborative Systems Enquiry.
Below is one page for developing each of the 7 Principles into a Practice. On each page you will find an Overview, the 3
Elements of each Practice, its associated Pattern, and an Exercise.To develop your skills repeat this cycle: set a learning
goal, learn the material on the relevant page, undertake a small, low-stakes experiment to bring people’s attention to
what you see, and reflect on the feedback you get when you do this.
Click here to join an online community where you can share your reflections and get feedback.
Aspects of the Operating System
14. 14
Feel Rhythms
Exercise:
Feeling Rhythms is an embodied skill that requires the ability to sense tensions in relation to timing.Try this
exercise a few times in the coming weeks: Notice when you are feeling either emotionally frustrated or
excited about the timing of a group process.Where does this emotion show up in your body? Write down
what you think needs to be adjusted and why. How could you increase your sensitivity to both challenges
and opportunities in relation to synchronising events better in time?
Rhythm is the PatternDynamicsTM systems thinking principle associated with the
practice of Feeling Rhythms. It reminds us that balancing regularity with flexibility
within a system is important for building self-organising capacity.
Pattern:
• Sense Cycles: develop an awareness of repetitions, pulses, swings, and other regularities over time.
• Introduce Routines: introduce regularity into activities when required.
• Adjust Rhythms: find the optimum balance between regularity and flexibility as circumstances change.
Practice Elements:
Get in touch with timing. Having effective routines and cycles is required for optimising the organisation of any
group. However, regularity should not be seen as fixed, or an end in itself–rhythms should be adjusted for
both regularity and flexibility as required.The practice of Feeling Rhythms has three elements:
15. Locating Perspectives is a perspectival skill that requires the ability to locate distinct points of view, to imagine
what they could tells us, and to verify what they actually do tell us.Try this exercise 3 times.Think about a
challenge you are facing and list three important stakeholders.Try to choose people who have a wide range
of roles in relation to this situation. Imagine what each of them thinks.What happens when you seek to verify
what they think? Did you guess accurately? If so, how accurately? If not, how different were your guesses?
15
Locate Perspectives
Engage all relevant points of view. Identifying the important stakeholders is essential for accessing all the
information required to meet challenges effectively. Importantly, you must seek to verify any assumptions
made about the information they hold. Locating Perspectives has three elements:
Polarity is the PatternDynamicsTM systems thinking principle associated with the
practice of Locating Perspectives. It reminds us that identifying all the important
distinctions (relevant elements) that stand out from the general background is
important for building self-organising capacity.
Exercise:
Practice Elements:
• Identify Stakeholders: confirm all important stakeholders and sources of information.
• Take Perspectives: prioritise sources and imagine the information they possess.
• Seek Perspectives: engage directly with sources to verify available information.
Pattern:
16. Outlining Structures is a graphic skill that requires the ability to represent organisational architectures,
primarily with non-verbal symbols.Try this exercise for three organisations or communities: Use small circles
to represent individuals. Use different sized circles to represent different sized groups. Nest circles to show
where they are parts of a bigger group. Show relationships by locating circles together or by using connecting
lines. Label with words to describe roles and authorities. How is the information contained in your diagrams
different from purely written descriptions of the same structures?
16
Outline Structures
Draw organisational structures. Graphically representing your organisational architecture brings clarity to roles,
accountabilities, relationships, and structures. However, it is important to also document where agreed-on
authority lies. Outlining Structures has three elements:
Structure is the PatternDynamicsTM systems thinking principle associated with
Outlining Structures. It reminds us that a clear understanding of a system’s
structure is important for building self-organising capacity.
Exercise:
• List Roles and Accountabilities: record and clarify required roles and their responsibilities.
• Clarify Authorities: verify the nature and scope of the agreed-on authority assigned to each role.
• Draw Structures: create simple, graphic representations of relationships, roles and authorities.
Practice Elements:
Pattern:
17. Coordinating Perspectives is a collaborative skill that requires the ability to communicate effectively, build trust,
identify common themes, and facilitate agreement.Try this exercise three times: Identify a challenge. Ask three
people their views on meeting this challenge. Listen only and record. Review your records and try to identify
common themes and principles. Hint: The ultimate purpose of a group should always be one such theme.
How does searching for the common ground change the way you perceive a situation?
17
Coordinate Perspectives
Use systems thinking to collaborate. Coordinating views, through inquiring to identify principles that locate
common ground, minimises conflict and optimises cooperation.This process requires the ability to think well
and communicate effectively about the wider system. Coordinating Perspectives has three elements:
Exchange is the PatternDynamicsTM systems thinking principle associated with
Coordinating Perspectives. It reminds us that exchanging information and
identifying common principles is required for building self-organising capacity.
Exercise:
• Collaborate through Inquiry: use inquiring conversations to build trust and exchange information.
• Use Systems Thinking: think about the wider context and identify principles that unify perspectives.
• Coordinate Perspectives: seek agreement regarding important principles and priorities.
Pattern:
Practice Elements:
18. Designing Decisions is a design skill. It requires the ability to select important elements and themes related to
a challenge, connect them in new ways, create well-designed solutions, and explain your thinking. Try this
exercise. Seek multiple perspectives to identify important elements of a challenge. Group like elements into
themes. See how many creative connections you can make between elements and themes. List three new
ideas that emerge from this process. Has this changed how you think about making decisions? If so, how?
18
Design Decisions
Make creative connections for design solutions. More effective problem solving requires the creative association
and organisation of previously unconnected ideas. However, proposed solutions can only be optimised if you
are able to explain the reasoning behind your choices. Designing Decisions has three elements:
Creativity is the PatternDynamicsTM systems thinking principle associated with
Designing Decisions. It reminds us that making creative connections is important
for building self-organising capacity.
Exercise:
Creativity
• Connect Ideas: link your most important ideas to create novel solution prototypes.
• Design Solutions: integrate ideas from prototypes to create and decide on a solution to test.
• Explain Rationale: explain the reasons behind your decision making process.
Practice Elements:
Pattern:
19. 19
Govern Reflectively
Review agreements to govern. Self-organising governance is facilitated by collaborating to establish goals and
milestones and recording them in transparent agreements. However, governance is optimised only if all
parties reflect on these agreements regularly and modify them as required. Reflective Governing has three
elements:
Dynamics is the PatternDynamicsTM systems thinking principle associated with
Governing Reflectively. It reminds us that practicing dynamic steering through
reflective leadership is important for building self-organising capacity.
Exercise:
Governing Reflectively is a leadership skill that requires the ability to encourage ongoing, collaborative co-
creation and reflection in relation to goals, milestones, and agreements. Do this exercise in relation to three
agreements you currently have in place, whether they are explicitly recorded or not. Reflect on what has
changed since progress started toward the latest milestones. Have these changes affected your goal? Does
your agreement need to be modified to get the best outcome?
Pattern:
• Set Milestones: co-create agreed on goals and milestones.
• Record Agreements: record roles, accountabilities, tasks and authorities in transparent agreements.
• Review Progress: reflect regularly on progress and modifying agreements as required.
Practice Elements:
20. 20
Source Sensing
Maintain awareness of evolving purpose. Having a clear shared purpose is a powerful source of self-organising
capacity. However, your purpose will shift and evolve as different challenges help to identify new goals and
directions. Source Sensing has three elements:
Source is the PatternDynamicsTM systems thinking principle associated with
Source Sensing. It reminds us that being sensitive to emergent challenges and
opportunities for change is important for building self-organising capacity.
Exercise:
Source Sensing is an intuitive skill that requires present awareness of sensations, perceptions, emotions, ideas,
and narratives. Do this exercise during group discussions. Focus on being relaxed, present, and aware. Make
your breathing deep, regular, and slow. What are the subtler kinds of stimuli that you aware of? Try and
connect them to tensions in the group that might signal a need for change?
• Connect to Source: maintain an awareness of the origin and evolution of your purpose and goals.
• Sense Tensions: develop the capacity to sense information pointing to opportunities for change.
• Adjust the System: becoming skilled at sensing when and how to make adjustments.
Pattern:
Practice Elements:
21. 21
Collaborative Systems Enquiry4.
Ok, you’ve got a sense of the living systems view, learned some Principles, been introduced to a set of Patterns, and
started to develop some deeper Practices. Now it’s time to take your skill building to the next level and integrate
everything you’ve learned.
You will have noticed that the Operating System diagram contains a number of coloured arrows.These indicate that the
aspects of the OS form a natural problem solving or learning loop.This cycle lies at the heart of the self-organising process.
You can strengthen it by sensing where aspects of the process might be missing or out of balance and by helping groups
learn to restore that balance.
When you start to put all the elements of the OS together we call that process Collaborative Systems Enquiry (CSE).
We’re going to start with a step by step approach to CSE, where you move through each aspect of the OS in sequence.
When you become more practiced, you’ll be able to shift around the OS more intuitively. As you head toward mastery, it
will serve more as a set of touchstones, enabling your own more spontaneous and fluid interpretations. At this stage, though, its
a good idea to keep the PD OS on a Page, below, open as a you learn to practice Collaborative Systems Enquiry.
All groups have operating systems, either explicit ones that they are conscious of, or implicit ones that have developed in a
more unconscious, ad hoc way. By using Collaborative Systems Enquiry you don’t need to impose a new system or
restructure existing ones.The method used in CSE is to seamlessly and organically demonstrate the benefits of upgrading
to a more purpose-driven, systemically informed, collaborative processes.
Have a look at the PD OS diagram on the next page. You’ll notice that the 3 Elements have been added under their
respective Principles.
22. Coordinate Perspectives
• Collaborate through Enquiry
• Use SystemsThinking
• Coordinate Perspectives
Collaborative Systems EnquiryPatternDynamics™
Operating System
on a Page
www.patterndynamics.net
Feel Rhythms
• Sense Cycles
• Introduce Routines
• Adjust Rhythms
Locate Perspectives
• Identify Stakeholders
• Take Perspectives
• Seek Perspectives
Outline Structures
• List Roles
• Clarify Authorities
• Draw Structures
Design Decisions
• Connect Ideas
• Design Solutions
• Explain Rationale
Govern Reflectively
• Set Milestones
• Record Agreements
• Review Progress
22
Sense Source
• Connect to Source
• SenseTensions
• Adjust the System
23. Now its time to run the operating system and start learning to practice Collaborative Systems Enquiry.We’ve provided a
Performance Chart on the next page and a related Exercise to get you started. Again, as you feel more comfortable you
can start to put the supports aside and integrate CSE into your own personal way of doing things.
To begin the Performance Chart Exercise, pick a group process you are participating in where decisions are being made
and outcomes are trying to be achieved. Shorter processes are better to begin with–for example, a team meeting or a
monthly strategy session. During and after that process work your way through the OS Performance Card on page 24 and
evaluate where the group, as a whole, generally falls with regard to the elements of each principle.
The performance indicators are:
• Low Performance: where the practice is virtually non existent, poorly understood, and not getting results.
• Medium Performance: where it’s sometimes used, only partially understood, and getting only limited results.
• High Performance: where it’s fully integrated, understood by everyone, and getting optimal results.
The chart will help you think about each element of the OS, how competent your group is generally at working with
these elements, and to aspects of the group process were you might start to add your insights as a way of fostering CSE.
When you do start reflecting insights you have gained from using the Operating System, try to practice this in a seamless
way that allows you to start gaining influence. Do this by making observations and posing enquiries.Your influence should
develop by virtue of your ability to see the dynamics at work in a process and to support conversations about how these
dynamics might need to be adjusted. Remember, you don’t need immediate, tangible result every time.Your goal is to help
the group become aware of the the value of a more collaborative approach, to help them learn to enquire about the state
of their system, and how they might balance it for healthier, higher functioning in pursuit of their goals.
To develop your skills repeat this cycle: 1) set a learning goal, 2) learn the material on the relevant page, 3) undertake a
small, low-stakes experiment based on what you observe, and 4) reflect on the feedback you get.
23
Run the Operating System
24. Practices Status Notes
Feel Rhythms • Sense Cycles
• Introduce Routines
• Adjust Rhythms
Locate Perspectives • Identify Stakeholders
• Take Perspectives
• Seek Perspectives
Outline Structure • List Roles and Accountabilities
• Clarify Authorities
• Draw Structures
Coordinate Perspectives • CollaborateThrough Enquiry
• Use SystemsThinking
• Coordinate Perspectives
Design Decisions • Connect Ideas
• Design Solutions
• Explain Rationale
Govern Reflectively • Set Milestones
• Record Agreements
• Review Progress
Sense Source • Connect to Source
• SenseTensions
• Adjust the System
24
PD OS Performance Chart
Low Medium High
1 2 3
Performance
Indicators
25. 25
Next Steps:
You may have noticed that the OS acts as a virtuous cycle of practice.The more cycling you do, the
more you gain the benefits of employing an increasingly adaptive, open and innovative operating
model, which encourages more practice–and on it goes.To get support with your virtuous cycling,
and to learn more Patterns, Principles, and Practices click here and join the PD forum training
community:
Join: PatternDynamics Forum Training Community
26. 26
Intellectual Property and Use
In Plain English:
This Workbook is made available for personal, not-for-profit use. It’s designed as a set of skills
practices for change makers, organisational and community facilitators, coaches, consultants,
educators, leaders and others interested in positive change. Please share it if you find it useful.
All we ask is that the contents are not modified and attributions are made to
PatternDynamics™
This Workbook is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No
Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. See the License Summary and Legal
Text of the License itself by clicking here.
Note: This license applies to this Workbook only. Other PatternDynamicsTM Symbols, Patterns,
Charts, and Educational Resources are intellectual property of James Timothy Winton and
PatternDynamics Pty Ltd and may require further licensing and accreditation for use.
Further training and accreditation is available at www.patterndynamics.net